Related Links

London - Three women from the United Arab Emirates were
in hospital on Monday after being savagely attacked in their room at a luxury
London hotel by a man wielding a hammer, police said.

The women, all in their 30s, sustained serious injuries
to their heads and faces during the "unusually violent attack" at the
four-star Cumberland Hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Three children were sleeping in an adjoining room at the
time but they were unharmed.

One of the victims is in a critical but stable condition
at a central London hospital, while the injuries suffered by the other two
women are not life-threatening, police said.

Detectives are treating the attack as attempted murder,
although they said they had an open mind as to the motive.

Officers were called at 01:50 on Sunday to the hotel near
Hyde Park following reports of an assault, the Metropolitan Police said in a
statement.

"At this stage, it is believed that a single male
suspect entered a guest bedroom on the seventh floor of the building, where
three women and three children were sleeping in adjoining rooms," it said.

"Detectives believe that the suspect was disturbed
when some of the occupants of the room woke up, and the three women were
subsequently assaulted with a hammer which was later recovered at the
scene."

The 1 000-room hotel, which is owned by the Guoman group,
was not immediately available for comment.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Chalmers said: "This
was an unusually violent attack on three women and I am very keen to speak with
anyone who was in or around the hotel between 01:00 and 02:00 on Sunday
morning."

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Saving your profile

Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location.
If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a
location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to
take affect.

Your Location*

Weather*

Always remember my setting

Saving your settings

Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.